Lately the news is full of the problems with making ethanol out of corn.
One official mentioned the cultivation of pine trees as a possible solution.
Clark's site is full of valuable info on this and other energy topics,
with ongoing updates.
Meanwhile, I've been wondering about the feasibility of harvesting only pine beetle damaged trees - and using wild growing invasive species to make bio fuel..... Kudzu, Asian Privet, and the blight of Ailanthus altissima (Tree-of-Heaven). I used to live on old farm land INFESTED with all of it and came to understand just how pervasive, aggressive and insidious these alien species are. Truly Satan's botanical minions. So if devouring them as biofuel worked out, we'd get fuel AND restore landscapes to their original glory. It seems so logical -- a Win Win!!
A quick google reveals there's concern that some biofuel crops will
BECOME invasive species. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Biofuels_As_Invasive_Species_999.html
So why not just use the ones we already have?
I put these questions to the experts, and have reprinted their
wise replies below.
Subject: Ethanol / biofuel from Invasive plants - Hello!
Reply From Georgia Gardener, Walter Reeves:
D - I think you're right on. I've got some native sea oats in
my landscape and it reseeds regularly in places where I don't
want it....and it's hard to kill!
One key to using trees and other plants as biofuel stock
is that they be easily harvested. Pine trees on the big
plantations in S Georgia are easy to cut down and truck to
market...just like corn.
But selectively removing privet and beetle-killed trees
would be much more expensive. Kudzu, unfortunately, doesn't
yield much mass....it's only leaves and stems, not much cellulose.
I'd LOVE it if privet was shown to be a good source of biofuel!
W www.walterreeves.com
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Reply From Theresa Shrum of Eco Terra Landscape Consultants:
The issue of biofuel technology is a complicated one full
of emotion and sometimes lacking serious science. Using existing
invasive species already present and running amok as sources
of fuel is a great idea but the plants are spread all over on
public and private land with ease of access to amount of harvest
an issue (but I'm all for whatever gets rid of the stuff).
Once exhausted, people will want to intentionally plant
the stuff and then we've come full circle. Ditto on the farming
of new invasive species for the same purposes. This topic has been
discussed at several invasive plant conferences.
Where I think our best hope lies is getting biofuel from
a wide range of sources of which the most exciting would be
generating cellulosic ethanol. This biofuel is obtained from grain
crops but it's made from the plant parts we don't consume -
the stalks, straw, etc. It can even be made from the byproducts
of paper and sawmills - sawdust. Therefore the grain is preserved
as a food source and that which is usually plowed under goes into
fuel. To supplement this, we have solar, wind, geothermal energy
sources and the manufacturing of better fuel efficient cars
including hybrids and fully electric models.
What REALLY P.O's me are the commercials funded by whomever
(probably the U.S. oil and coal companies) pushing the utilization
of our "domestic" energy sources which equate to: dynamiting the tops
off the Appalachians to extract coal, ravaging the Rockies for shale
oil, drilling off some of our coastal areas and plundering ANWR.
Now, I can't claim to be holier-than-thou on my soapbox as
I drive a very fuel-inefficient truck for my business. However,
I'm willing to pay higher gas prices and change my driving
habits if it means preserving those areas above. Besides, when
the end of civilization does come we'll need the kudzu to eat. :-D
Theresa Schrum / http://www.eco-tlc.com/
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Hear Hear! Great thanks to both Walter and Theresa.
An important topic this one! And Team Clark will be on it.
